The Singapore Medical Centre (SGMC) will open in Phnom Penh during the third quarter of the year, as announced during a press conference in Phnom Penh last Friday.

The new medical and wellness centre will open at The Bridge, a complex located in the capital’s Tonle Bassac district.

It will be the first facility in Cambodia to be managed under DrMap, a model that provides the know-how and intellectual property needed to set up and manage a clinic.

According to their website, DrMap also provides “assistance for business development and marketing support.”

During a press conference convened to announce the launch of the new facility, Anthony Jude Tan, director of DrMap (Cambodia), said DrMap ensures transparency, professionalism, personalisation and privacy in the management and running of medical facilities.

He added that DrMap is able to design, procure, and manage processes to help patients, physicians, payers, and medical providers promote a multi-disciplinary platform of quality and trusted healthcare, noting that DrMap is currently being implemented in China, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia, among other countries.

With a team of doctors and physicians from Singapore, as well as visiting doctors from Thailand and the US, SGMC will provide general surgery and aesthetic treatments, as well as preventive health screenings, holistic wellness and chronic disease management.

He said that they decided to open their facility in the kingdom when they became aware of the growing number of Cambodians that travel abroad, particularly to Thailand and Singapore, for advanced medical care.

He said that, on average, 8 to 10 Cambodians travel to other countries in the region each week for medical treatment, mostly surgery.

“We are bringing the Singaporean touch, feel and knowledge,” he said.

SGMC will use state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, Mr Tan said, adding that the centre will also serve to train locals working in the medical field, and will be instrumental in advancing the local medical and wellness sector.

“Our target patients are, of course, locals. This is who we will like to serve.”

Sear Rithy, chairman of Worldbridge Group, told Khmer Times that the presence of SGMC in Cambodia will generate income for locals, help improve the skillset of local physicians and keep medical treatment money inside the country.

“It also makes things more convenient for patients, who don’t need to book flights and set up schedules anymore.

“The service in this centre will be like in Singapore or Thailand”, Mr Rithy said, noting that the new facility will target middle and upper class Cambodians.

Ho Vandy, secretary-general of Cambodia’s National Tourism Alliance, said the new centre will play an important role in keeping the local workforce in the medical field from migrating to other countries for work.

“In combination with all other assets that we got in Cambodia, the new centre will also expand the number of visitors seeking medical treatment,” he added.

The 6th Annual Tiger Street Football Festival 2018 continues this Sunday in Poipet city in what promises to be another dazzling display of intense futsal action and a fun superstar after-games party with performers and DJs.